Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Before you continue, some people may consider this post to be a little...hmmm...gross.

If so, turn back now. Ok, you've been warned.

Now, the brothers here already warned us about the monkeys here, that they can be very vengeful. For instance, if you see one and throw something at it, it will pick it back up and throw it back at you.

They don't turn the other cheek.

So I woke up one day, came into the kitchen to get ready to make (you guessed it) oatmeal, when I see this monkey running across the gate.

We need food, paper towels, soap, etc. Candace has been having a major case of STS (sweet tooth syndrome) also, but of course, we can't afford that stuff.

So after I get done getting the majority of the needed stuff, I have only a little money left (like $60EC or $22US), but that has to go in the gas tank.

So I'm like, "aggghhh, I can't even get any chicken".

Whatever...

So I didn't pray about it, cuz, I mean, who prays for chicken?

Jehovah would probably look at Jesus like, "ok, so,you won't believe what he just prayed to me about..."

So that night at the meeting, a sister says, "I need to talk to you all".

So we get outside and she gives us 2 big bags...

What's inside?

Scroll down...

A writing tablet for Jalyn, which Candace had been looking for. The sister has no idea we need one of these, btw.

This was soooooo good on meat.

Oh, btw...

THREE bags of chicken. I didn't have enough money for one.

Jehovah gave us 3.

The sis also made this juice that was soooooo good.

I was reading Luke 10:7 for my Bible reading the other day:

. 7So stay in that house, eating and drinking the things they provide, for the worker is worthy of his wages.

Know what this scripture means?

Here's what the Insight book under "Wages" says (so cool):

The hospitality and material assistance extended to those exclusively devoting themselves to the interests of pure worship may be referred to as wages due them, according to the principle: “The worker is worthy of his wages.” (Lu 10:7; 1Ti 5:17, 18)

So when we pioneer, serve as C.O.s, needgreaters, missionaries, etc, Jehovah knows that we have sacrificed many things, if not all things, for the Kingdom. So although we honestly don't deserve anything, when nice things are done/give to a person who is serving Jehovah full time, Jehovah looks at those kind acts as "wages due".

Wow...Jehovah is amazing.

Working for Jehovah is the most liberating thing that can ever be done.

Candace and I say all the time that we're glad we came to St. Kitts in the manner that we did.

Of course, we don't advocate going to serve in a place without visiting first, but Jehovah knows that if we had visited St. Kitts first, we very likely wouldn't have returned, primarily because of the expenses.

However, not having much has allowed us to see Jehovah's hand in a marvelous way, a way that we wouldn't have seen had we had a lot of money.

Some of the brothers on this island have laughed a lot at the things Jehovah has done for us like, "man, how is Jehovah doing that for yall???" We'll then get to talking about something that we'd like to happen or see; for example, say someone said, "man I wish there was Wal-mart here", they'll say, "just have Candace and Jason ask Jehovah for it..."

To illustrate the point, let's rewind to the last few months...

The car we've been driving has been giving us a bit of trouble; the engine keeps running hot. The mechanics here are T.E.R.R.I.B.L.E., I mean, to the point that Jalyn could probably do a better job (I am SOOOOOOO serious).

So after spending money that we didn't have to fix a hose leak, the car is still running hot. So I go buy engine coolant to replace the water (yes...water) that these mechanics have been putting in the radiator.

That doesn't work either...car still runs hot.

Then I notice that neither the engine fan nor the radiator fan turn on when the car runs...ah ha!!! .

I let out a deep sigh, and prepare to go to the mechanic for the 9th time in the last 30 days (ah man...they suck so bad here)...

He tells me "tun deh cah ahn"...I guess that was "turn the car on".

Ok, I turn it on...

"Leave it runnin", he says...

I leave it running for 5 minutes, just watching money dripping out of the gas tank. "Where is he??"

I go look for him, and he's in the office sitting down, hanging with the receptionist. *sigh* "fight the anger and bad thoughts in your head, Jay..."

He sees me, comes "works" on the car, and says, "I can't figga it out, we need to call meh boss"...

His boss comes and can't figure it out either. *sigh* "fight the anger and bad thoughts in your head, Jay..."

So the boss sends me down the road to this Indian guy named Neil. *sigh*

Here's the fun part...

So at this point, on Tue, Feb 5, we have $9.50 to our name, and I pray to Jehovah, "Jehovah, you know we don't have any money, please let us get this fixed."

You know what I do next, what I literally do next? As I'm waiting in the car for Neil to see me, thinking about what I just asked Jehovah, I stare at the big, green, cloud-covered mountain that's about 2 miles away, and guess what I imagined happening?

Matthew 21:21
I used my imagination to "see" it happening.

So guess what happens next?

First, Neil fixes the problem that's been lingering for over 4 months... YAY!!!!

THEN...here it comes...There's an awkward silence for about 5 to 6 seconds.

We're both staring at the hood...silent.

I'm thinking, "oh man, he's waiting for me to hand him some money", but I'm waiting on him to tell me how much.

He says..."ok, just close the hood and you're good to go..."

In my head: "wait...excuse me?"

He fixes it for free.

I'm screamin in my head, "MAN, JEHOVAH, YOU ARE AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Then I hurried up and drove off before dude changed his mind.

Would I have prayed that to Jehovah had we had the money? Probably not...

When the slave says, "use trials to see Jehovah's hand", man...it's no joke.

If you don't put yourself out there, you'll never know.

As a good friend put it (you know who you are), "it's ok to be scared"...

Saturday, February 2, 2013

The thing is, there's an iphone cord to usb that I need in order to upload my posts, right?

Well, the elder that's been letting me use his cord ended up needing it, since it also acts as a charger, so anyways, I haven't had it.

So to avoid a super-long post of backed-up stories, I'll just fast forward and post the photos...

The videos are coming later.

So we went to a sister's job who let us swim, eat, and just all around pig out.

Candace participated first.

On our way to the beach...hmmmm, look at that view.

This is actually my main screen image on my phone now.

Jalyn's service hat...that she "borrowed" from Candace.

Jalyn putting on "earrings" during the meeting.

Porridge.

For our first restaurant night out, Candace, Jalyn, and I went to this so called "great" Indian restaurant called "Bombay Blues" (look it up on Tripadvisor), and we get there late.

So we ask, "what's the favorite?". It was this garbage. When the waitress brought it out, and said "enjoy", Candace and I looked at each other like, "I know she didn't", and "she betta be pranking us".

It was soooo obviously just re-heated out of a pot, and it tasted like 2 day old Alpo.

Some of the brothers told us how crooked restaurants can be here, in that they know it's not fresh, but instead of giving you a discount, they still charge you full price.

Never...ever again.

147 days

That's how many days we've had oatmeal here. We've been here a little over 4 months, but we've only had something different for breakfast 8 times.

Yes eight.

That account about manna is taking on a brand-new meaning, it really is. I mean, after a while, you stop focusing on, "ahhhhh, I'm so tired of eating this garbage!!!!", and you start thinking, "ok, Jehovah's feeding me...Jehovah's feeding me".